BJP leader Lal Muni Chaubey may fight as Independent

Patna: Hurt over denial of Lok Sabha ticket, senior BJP leader and four-time MP Lal Muni Chaubey on Sunday expressed his desire to quit the party and may contest as an Independent candidate from Buxar.

"I will announce my decision tomorrow. I am hurt over the way our top leaders have been neglected by the party. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is being treated like a living dead. Advaniji and Jaswantji have been ignored," Chaubey told PTI.

Considered close to BJP stalwarts like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and senior leader Jaswant Singh, Chaubey said that he was hurt over the `neglect of top leaders`, and the `absence of any criteria for ticket distribution`.
He pointed out that names of these leaders were not even taken at the election rallies being held across the country, and added that BJP was forgetting to uphold the tradition of showing `respect to the elders` for their contributions.

Chaubey was elected for the first time from Buxar Parliamentary constituency in 1996. He represented the seat continuously till 2009, when he lost to RJD leader Jagadanand Singh by 2,000 votes.

The BJP denied him a ticket this time, bringing in former state health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who hails from Bhagalpur.

Denouncing the way poll tickets have been distributed in the BJP, Chaubey said, "there was no criteria for distribution of ticket. Regional leaders have not been given importance. People from outside and faraway places were being imposed on constituencies. This is a conspiracy to destroy the party."
Meanwhile, a BJP leader said, party president Rajnath Singh and Bihar in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan were said to be in continuous touch with Chaubey to ensure that he doesn`t leave the party.